What the $%#&!!! (or…Where’d my post go??)
By dave • Jun 10th, 2008 • Category: Site StuffOK…I’ve seen several of you now posting about things disappearing, so I wanted to make sure I posted this where everyone can see it.
The software we are using to run this site is called Wordpress. There are any number of settings and such that get tweaked to make sure it runs the way it is supposed to. Some of those settings deal with how the site reacts to what it PERCEIVES to be possible SPAM.
When ANYONE…and that does mean ANYONE…posts a comment that has more than 2 links, the system automatically flags it as potentially being SPAM and puts it in the moderation cue to be approved by an Admin. This is because very often, SPAM comments are filled with links to external sites where you can buy Viagra, refinance your home, help out a Nigerian who is down on his luck…you get the picture.
I COULD bump it up to accept more links before being moderated, and maybe I will ease it up to 3 to see how it goes, but so far, it has been very effective at keeping SPAM from making it to the board.
Also, the site is being protected from SPAM by a little feature known as Akismet. Its function is to look at comments and try to determine whether they are SPAM, based on their content.
Now, I do not know HOW it does that, only that it does it very effectively. This site gets an ENORMOUS amount of SPAM traffic trying to be posted, and Akismet catches about 99% of it. However, once in a while, it does label something as a false positive. We had that happening recently with a comment that Nighthawk posted.
Whenever you post a comment that just disappears, that could be what it is. I try to respond to comments being held in the moderation cue as quickly as I can. I get an email whenever something goes in there, and I can usually get it approved pretty fast. Once in a while, though, I may not be around to approve it, so just be patient, and I’ll get it approved.
If more than a day or so passes without your comment showing up, however, you may want to let me know, because it may have gotten Spaminated.
I just felt like this issue needed to be cleared up, so that nobody thinks there is some sort of conspiracy to control what you are posting. It is simply good software trying a little too hard sometimes.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I had it figgered that way as I have tried to post things with upto 3 links and sometimes 2, end up disappearing, or just labeled awaiting moderation. So at least, I knew that, others might not have.
June 11th, 2008 at 6:17 am
I’m still trying to figure out why I couldn’t find it in moderation cue, thats all.
It isn’t that I thought anyone had deleted it, but was it intercepted by the Akismet
and placed there, or was it relocated locally (here) to an area that we can’t see?
Usually I can view the comments that are awaiting moderation, and if they are in
a thread where I have the permissions, I can approve them.
But the comments that have me puzzled seemingly disappeared… but still You
were able to dig them out from somewhere.
I’m just trying to get a feel for the upgrade without downloading to read template notations.
It’s sorta like 7up during the UnDew it campaign, the same thing only different
June 16th, 2008 at 10:25 am
That’s sort of the mystery I wanted to clear up…where else they were going, besides the moderation cue.
The ones that you couldn’t find, nighthawk, had been marked as SPAM and put into the Akismet holder. that’s where i was able to dig them up.
it is strange what triggers it sometimes, but for the most part, it seems to do a great job of keeping things cleaned up.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Uh I thot thay wuz a way to click on a author’s name and find a email or a way to send a message to them on thayuns "dashboard" or even a private message.
I missed something or it got changed er somthin ernuthur
July 14th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
It would be nice of Dave if he could find a Private Messaging plugin for us.